The Duggars Have Banned Dancing And Secular Music, But Some Are Surprised By How They Used To Be

If you're like me, you are fascinated by the Duggar family. I don't necessarily agree with every decision they make, but I find that their way of life and what they choose to believe is pretty interesting.

One of the strangest things to me about the ever-growing family is that they don't listen to music outside of church hymns or classical music.

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"I used to listen to hard rock music, Michelle did too," Jim Bob said in an interview with Belief Net. "Then I went to a Christian seminar, actually church camp, and they talked about getting rid of secular rock music. And so, I did that."

But it's not like they sit on long car rides in silence (with 19 kids they probably never have silence anyway.) Jim Bob Duggar explained that classical music and hymns are the family's go-to choices.

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"[The seminar] expressed how classical music really opens up your mind and it causes you to be able to think better when everything's in sync. Different people have different opinions about music. As a family, we listen to a lot of classical music and play a lot of classical music."

Starcasm

And it's true, the kids all play musical instruments. Each child learns how to play the piano and violin while getting home-schooled, and it's considered just another part of their homework.

"There's something to be said about music and how it speaks to us," Michelle said in an interview. "By carefully picking the music that our children have listened to through the years, we've helped them learn to love and appreciate it. Jim Bob and I are just thrilled since we don't know how to play any instruments - we just enjoy hearing the beautiful music in our home."

Duggar Family

And what about dancing?

With all that musical rhythm taught at a young age, you would think that these kids would be dancing around all the time. However, it's strictly against Duggar rules to dance.

"As far as dancing, something that we believe—it's a personal conviction—is that a lot of times, when a guy sees a girl dance, it really can be defrauding to a guy, especially if they're dressed immodestly," Jim Bob explained. "The definition of defrauding would be building up sensual desires that you cannot rightfully fulfill. Now, if my wife and I want to dance privately or something, in our room... Between a husband and wife is fine."

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"There's just certain cautions you've got to be careful about because if you're gonna cause someone else to stumble by your actions and your behavior, it's something that you really want to be careful not to defraud someone and stir up desires that really cannot be righteously fulfilled," Michelle echoed.

"Michelle used to be a cheerleader and used to dance and all that stuff herself," Jim Bob admitted.

"And my whole mindset was this was cute and this was getting the crowd pepped up for the game," Michelle confessed. "And I had no clue what the boys in the crowd were thinking when I was in my tiny little skimpy cheerleading uniform."

The Inquisitr

"But that's the beauty of God's mercy and grace as He grows us and teaches us, because when I got saved, I wanted to be sensitive to my Lord, I wanted to be careful how I led other people," she continued. "I began to put on more clothes than I used to wear and just a lot of changes. And I think, praise God, it didn't happen overnight. But, the Lord just is very gracious to teach us and grow us."

Jim Bob credited Michelle "maturing in her relationship with Christ" as to how she got to where she is today.